Companies Fly to Unload Private Planes

Analysts warn that letting automakers sink will have impact across the economy

(NEWSER) - Letting one of the Big Three go under could have disastrous effects on many corners of the American economy, McClatchy Newspapers reports. Beyond the jobs lost at the companies and their suppliers—as well as the jobs lost everywhere those workers spend their wages—the repercussions would hit sectors as diverse as defense, television, and even sports. More»

Detroit bankruptcies would ripple through entire industry's supply chain

(NEWSER) - German giants BMW and Daimler are rooting for a bailout of the Big Three, since a bankrupt Detroit would devastate sales and cripple parts-makers they all share, Bloomberg reports. The US is the top market for BMW, No. 2 for Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz. Meanwhile, Fiat, Peugeot, and Renault—which compete with GM and Ford in Europe—worry the bailout will unfairly sway competition. More»

Legislators put screws to extra-shiny tin cups

(NEWSER) - Take three auto execs, add the private jets each took to a Capitol Hill hearing to beg for a federal bailout, and you get a recipe for the heaping helping of humble pie legislators served up, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. "There's a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, DC, and people coming off them with tin cups in their hands," said one New York congressman at the disastrous hearing. More»

Demographic key to rebuilding for US automakers

(NEWSER) - Detroit automakers face a hard road when it comes to Generation Y—consumers aged 22-32 whose business is crucial to securing the firms' futures, BusinessWeek reports. Their boomer parents broke from tradition by shifting to Japanese cars, and Gen Y is following in those footsteps. Detroit “simply must do much better with Gen Y than they did with their parents, or the comeback we keep hearing about may not happen,” says an analyst. More»

(NEWSER) - Automakers got hammered again last month, with Detroit’s Big Three all reporting big sales drops today. Ford’s light-vehicle numbers were down 41%, the AP reports; General Motors’ fell 44.7% and Chrysler’s 39.3%, the Wall Street Journal adds. Foreign manufacturers weren’t immune, either, with Toyota’s sales diving 39% and Volkswagen tumbling 19.7%. More»